Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 26, 2009 9:00 pm We have found it hard to find a tradie/builder to take on our front fence project - a 1.5m high brick pillar fence with steel rod infills, like this pic that d@n kindly did up for us
Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Finally we have got a quote for a builder to come and do it all - look after council permits, arrange all the tradies, everything. I am wondering if it is worth going through the hassle of getting someone else to quote, and thought I would get some opinions from ppl here about the price ... anyone had this kind of fence built before? Ok so all he has itemised in the quote is: Brick fence and footing (materials & labour) $8064 Metal picket infill & sliding gate $6400 This quote does not include the electrical motor of the sliding gate as my dad works in the industry and can get me one cheap. We also have 350 odd bricks left over so it only includes any extra bricks they might need. I am thinking of asking him to itemise the costs a bit more, is this fair? He does seem very professional and it all includes builder's warranty, public liability and all the rest.. Any advice welcome! thanks all "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 2Feb 26, 2009 11:01 pm I know nothing about fences, but to me that seems pretty steep!!
How many more bricks would you need? Would it be cheaper for you to buy a few pallets or whatever you need directly yourself and maybe even the steel inserts and just pay him for the labour??? But again I know NOTHING about fence quotes ; My karma ran over your dogma Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 3Feb 26, 2009 11:17 pm well yeah that's why I thought I might get him to itemise the costs a bit more, to see if I could get some of the things cheaper. I know how much I can get my bricks for (but no idea how many more I'd need!), and I know of a place I could get the steel bits from, but don't know what measurements to give them etc?
I think he has to get a drawing done up to give to council, so I'm paying a bit extra for this, and to have him 'project manage' the whole thing... so that's fair enough... "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 4Feb 26, 2009 11:19 pm Yep that makes sense
i think I'd ask him to break down the costs for you. I'm a bit like you in that if I find it really hard to get a number of quotes I will just go with the one that does come out and quote (as long as they know what they are doing!!) regardless of the cost.... My karma ran over your dogma Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 5Feb 26, 2009 11:25 pm Yeah I'm the same bel, I just want someone to come and do it already!!!
Actually I should add for anyone else reading this and thinking of getting one of these fences done, if at all possible I would try to get your builder to do it as part of your house build... There are 2 houses going up down the street from me whose brick fences are going up at the same time as the house, and I reckon it would have been so much easier to do it this way! The builder can include the fence in the house plans that go to council, have the same brickies do it etc, so it would probably cost you less money in the long run. Just a piece of advice ... "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 6Feb 27, 2009 7:57 am donuts that's a VERY VERY expensive quote ! Why don't you sub it out to various trades:
1. brickwork 2.company to supply & fit metal infill panels 3.company (maybe same one) to make up & fit the gate Just go to the trades directory of your local paper. That's where I'd start. If no luck there, then move on to the yellow pages. It'll be far cheaper if you break up the job in that way. More work for you, yes but cheaper. Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 7Feb 27, 2009 8:08 am With a price like that, no wonder I'm going for hedging for a front fence Stevep79 & Principessa Finished building Wisdom Homes Impression 33mkII in The Ponds, Sydney http://lilypadintheponds.blogspot.com Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 8Feb 27, 2009 10:47 am Not sure if your price is too high for you area, but I think you should definitely get at least a few quotes no matter how professional he looks. Don't forget that some times the person who gives you the quote is not the person who is doing/supervising the work....
Also, you should ask him to break it down into details, so that when you compare between the different quotes, it's apple against apple in a fair way. When we did our landscaping we specifically asked for the front fence to be included as part of the package (we we don't know anyone in the industry and don't want the hassle of different things done by different person ). We also gets about 4 quotes, with 3 of them we have seen their work in other finished houses. Hope this helps! Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 9Feb 27, 2009 3:36 pm Yea, I am planning to do something similar too.
I got a quote ($3000) to construct a 1.2m high fence using besser block (for a 10m wide fence). I think bricks will probably be a bit more expensive. Apparently, bricks are not that expensive. Its the footing (needs steel reo) and labour that costs $$$. My plan is to get brickies to lay bricks and find someone else to do the infills. You probably can get a concretor to do the footing, but I'll rather get the brickies to organise that because I have no idea what is needed there. Bricks standard size (HxLxW): 76mm x 230mm x 100mm Mortor is about 10mm You can try estimate the amount of bricks you need from the above figures. Building Clarendon Brighton - Done and moved in Sept 2009 Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 10Feb 27, 2009 5:37 pm thanks for the replies guys
Southies, I started to do it this way. I found out I needed a building permit from council, and as part of the application they need drawings, which would mean engaging a building practitioner anyway, or an engineer of some sort, which sounds pricey to begin with! Then I thought of problems that could arise ... tradies blaming the other tradies if measurements aren't right, etc etc and thought I don't want this hassle! Also on the council application form it said that if the job is going to cost more than $12k I would need an owner builder certificate and I don't want to have to go down that track just for a fence... This guy who gave me the quote used to work for a council's building dept so he knows the red tape involved there ... let him (or at least someone else!) do the hard yards, I thought... But I will get him to itemise the costs more for me, if the pricing is a bit more transparent I'll be happier. steve - I love hedging!! If only DH did too plus it takes a while to grow ... we need something now. allan - thanks for that, I will get this guy to itemise his costs and then compare the materials with prices I can get separately; if they compare well and I am happy with his labour/project management fee then I think we will probably go with him; if not then I will get some more quotes, trouble is it is hard to find ppl just to build a fence!? eho - thaks for that, yes the bricks are not too expensive, but I have heard that steel prices are on the increase so this might explain the high costs there ? not sure... thanks everyone ... I will let you know how we go with the itemised quote next! "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 11Mar 01, 2009 7:34 pm I don't know if this has been mentioned as I didn't read all the replies, but i guess it all comes down to the size of your frontage? If it is quite long then that quote could be reasonable, but if you are on a small/medium frontage this seems a little steep. Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 12Mar 01, 2009 8:41 pm hi kris000. good point - our frontage is just shy of 16 metres. "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 13Mar 03, 2009 9:59 am get another fencer to quote. the cost is in the brickwork. remember they are all looking for dollars at the moment so will try to get a premium where they can. haggle with them or say you will go elsewhere. Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 14Mar 04, 2009 3:07 pm perry ...remember they are all looking for dollars at the moment so will try to get a premium where they can... They are!? I just threatened to take my fencer to small claims court because I gave up on him doing my job (4 weeks over due and he has my deposit) and I still can't get him to phone me lol. Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 15Mar 06, 2009 9:48 pm Well, I got an answer back from this building company, and got told it was 'against company policy' to itemise the quote any more than they have already I commented on how strange that was and said I'd get back to them!
Am now frantically searching for another company/person to give me another quote so I can compare prices. Anyone got any recommendation for a building company that might be willing to take on this type of job in Melbourne? In fact anyone got a local paper for inner west Melbourne they'd be willing to part with? I want to look up the classifieds ... we don't get the local paper as we don't have a mailbox lol! "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 16Mar 06, 2009 10:09 pm I think we have a copy of the Star if you are interested... Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 17Mar 06, 2009 10:20 pm thanks hysterical pm sent. "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Front fence quote - is this a good price? 19Mar 08, 2009 1:56 pm perry that is just a tradie. none of them call back even if they do need business. beg pardon? what do you mean please. I have not had trouble with anyone calling me back I am just trying to find someone suitable to do the job. I haven't called heaps and waiting for calls back. I just don't know where to look for companies willing to take on this type of job that's all. "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Old Home Restoration / Renovation Try your local council. They should be able to advise in regards ownership of next door dwellling and give advice as to what steps you have to take before doing any work 1 8234 hey there! 😊 so, it’s kinda common for standard drawer depths to be around 500mm since most cabinets use this size to fit the usual runners… 3 18685 I was being kind to the builder. With the amount charged for the upgrade the builder is probably charging closer to 100% margin. There are a few variables as I… 5 13046 |